Morrissey has been awarded a Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage of Trinity College's Philosophical Society (Phil Soc).

The singer - whose parents are both from Dublin - posted the news on True-to-You.net, the fan-run site that he uses as his official mouthpiece. 

"Trinity College Dublin has offered Morrissey an "outstanding contribution to music award" (his first ever such award) which stands as the University Philosophical Society's Gold Medal of Honorary Patronage," the statement read.

"Morrissey has commented: "My initial reaction is to feel undeserving ... my contribution to music being such that no record label on the planet has either the nerve or the imagination to sign me!"
The University Philosophical Society has recorded the presence of many remarkable members including Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker and Samuel Beckett. Other past recipients of the Gold Medal in their respective fields include Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Chancellor of Germany Angela Merkel."

It's not yet known whether Morrissey will make an appearance at the Phil Soc, as his former Smiths bandmate Johnny Marr did in 2007 when he also received an Honorary Patronage of the same society. We contacted the Phil Soc for comment, and they said that they "cannot discuss any Honorary Patronage, or in some cases lack thereof, during the summer while our nominees and arrangements are uncertain. However we will be announcing upcoming award ceremonies at the beginning of term time in September in our magazine, The Philander, and on social media."

 

UPDATE: A new post on True-to-You.net today says that the ceremony is "scheduled for October", giving a strong indication that Morrissey will be in attendance… more when we hear it.